Boat and boat propulsion.



W.- A. HIGKMAN.

BOAT AND BOAT PROPULSION.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25, 1911. I 1,044, 1 76. Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

s SHEETS-SHEET 1. 4

Witnesses W. A. HICKMAN.

BOAT AND BOAT PROPULSION.

APPLICATION FILED 1111.25, 1911'.

' Patented'Nov. 12, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.-

m n e m I W. A. HIOKMAN.

BOAT AND BOAT PROPULSION.

APPLICATION IILED JAN.Z5, 1911.

Patented Nov. 12, 1912 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Inventor and useful Improvements in \VILLIAM ALBERT HICKMAN, OF PIGTOU, NOVA SCOIIA, CANADA.

BOAT AND BOAT PROPULSION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

Application filed January 25, 1 91 1. Serial No. 604,658

To all 11:71am it may concern:.

Be it known that I, rimmer Britain, and resident of the city of Pictou, in the Province of Nova Scotia, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new Boats and Boat Propulsion and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, tion .of the same.

-T he invention relates to improvements in boats and .boat propulsion, as described in and exact descripthe present specification and illustrated in chinery, to increase the eliiciency the accompanying drawings that form part of the same. I

The invention consistsessentiallyin the novel arrangement of the propelling means, whereby the parts of the mechanism incidental to inertia in respect to the driving power are clear of displacement resistance with the water during rapidity of movement.

The objects of the invention are to eliminate displacement resistance entirely, particularly in hi gh speed boats, to obtain more p -ver' from the installation of machinery for propulsion than would otherwise r- 0: tained from a corresponding weight:- of maof the propeller blades, to trim the boat better by the positioningv of the engine plant and generally to provide an arrangement which will greatly simplify the construction of power boats and at the same time increase their in 9 and lowering the eiiiciency. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boat at rest' and the 'watei line, showin the application of this invention to the hytroplane class of boats. Fig; 2 is a. side elevation of a boat at speed and the water line, showing the invention applied to the same class of boat; Fig. 3 is a perspec tive detail of the stern of a boat showing the shafts projecting therethrough and the propeliers mounted on said shafts. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the boat showing the arrange ment of the engines, shafts and propellers. Fig. 5 is a. longitudinal, sectional view of the stern portion of the boat showing a means for raisingaud lowering the propeller. Fig. (3 is a side elevation of the stern portion 0 the boat showing in sect-i m a means for raisrudder. Fig. 7 is an enlarged perspective detail of the rack and portion of the propeller shaft. Fig. 8 is a ALBERT :HICKMAN, a subject. of the King of Great constructing them of side elevation of a boat of the hydroplane.

class showing a modification of the application of this invention. Fig. 9 is another hydroplane. Fig. 10 is a stern view of the same.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

, The present" invention is primarily concerned with the development of speed boats and it is-well' known thatthe hulls have'been made so light and of such a shape that they practically "rise. out of the water and slide along on the-surface. In the construction of 'hydroplanes, this is particularly noticeable and the only friction remaining in regard to the'hull is what is commonly termed skin friction, therefore, it is presumed, that. the minimum has heen'reached in respectto the hull, but there is anoth\-e-;resistanee with which-designers have'had great trouble due to'the displacement. of water-by the propeller mechanism below the water line, such as the inner portionof the blades -of the wheel customarily used in screw propulsion, the hub, the shaftand the supportinghracltet and struts. It does notmatter how much the weight of these parts may. be reduced by a very fine grade of material. they are still there and boats of vcry'light construction of the .hydroplane typ'e'have been known to rise up out. of the water on these very parts, thus showing what the resistance will accomplish, and taking this fact-into consideration, the drag of these parts in the water will be readily un' d erstood. The mainroblem, therefore, is to do away with the displacement resistance offered by the shaft and other under water gear incident to screw-propulsion and with this in view, the parts are arranged and a form of screw propeller is used to paddle or scullthe boat through the water in place of driving it by screw action.

R-eferrin to 'the drawings, boat here shown as of the hydroplane type having its step 2 intermediate of the length of the hull. 3 and tare gasolenc motors installed within said hull one at each side of the center line of the boat and prefers bly in parallel arrangement, said motors being set. up substantially horizontal or m aimement with the bot-tom of the boat. 5 and 6 are shaftbearings astern of said motors.

. ,7 and 8 are propeller shafts directly con- 1 is a motor motors speed up the stern. will liftand leave oblique rearward direction in respect keel of the boat,'consequently there will be I planesor a rudder in the case of a single the height of the shaft in relation to the and extending'forwardly and having at' the forward end a suitable hand wheel 27'.

of the boat, said oat being formed to rise 20' -will have a tendency to swing the how, but

sw ngofthe hull. 40

Q a j 1,044,176

nected to the ,motors 8 and 4; respectively and extending sternwardly therefrom through the shaft bearings 5 and 6 and out through the shaft orifices 9 and 10 In the stern of the boat, said shaft orifices being at or above the water line of the boat when at rest, or below. I

11 and 12 are propellers mounted on the outwardly projecting-ends of the propeller; shafts 7 and 8 respectively and formed of right and left hand spiral blades 13 and 14 respectively extending from the hubs 15 and 16, said shafts being arranged to revolve in opposite directions. 7

It will now-be seen that the boat 1s furnished with two preferably parallel shafts connected to two gasolene moters respectively and extendi g through the stern wall on the water at speed and practically skim over said water, so that the volume of 'water at the stern is not materially decreased-in, regard to its density. The propeller wheels are preferably about mid-way submerged,

when the boat is at rest, so that when the only, the paddle portions of the blades dip-- ping into the water during rotation. The water thrown backward through the rotation of the'paddleswill he'thrown an to the some lateral movement of the stern, which this may be overcome by either movable propeller, but with the two propellers work- ;ng toward one another there will be no such In Fig. 5, an addition is -mad e to the. mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to 4, whereby speed water line may be adjusted.

v 17 is a rack sliding in the guide 18.

; 19 and 20 are lengths of hollow shafting jointed flexibly at 21, the length 20 extend-r ing' through the bearings 5 or 6 and the length l9 extending through the shaft orivi fices 9 or 10; as thecase may be and through the looped strap 22 secured to the guide 18.5.

23 is a toothed plate rigid 'with'the 1101- low section19 and in constant engagement;- with thcieof. v I

24; is a pinion coacting with the rack 17. 25 is a shaft jou'rnaled in the bearings 26 .28 and 29 are sections of "the propeller shaft flexibly-joined at the joint of the h0l-' low shafts -19 and 20.

30'is a propeller'ivhccl mounted on the end of the shaft 28.

3l is a vertical slot through the stern wall of the hull. 32 is a sliding cover to said the' rack.17 toward-the lower end;

slot through which the hollow shaft 19 extends, said cover sliding into a-recess 33.

34 is the rudder pivotally secured to the rudder plate 35 said rudder plate 35 being rigid with the screw. box 36.

31 is a key rigid with the screw box 36.

' 38 is a bracket rigidly secured to the stern wall. of the boat and formed at the rear end thereof-with the kcy-way 39, in which said key 37 slides, and a bearing 40 at the upper end thereof 41 is a shaft carrying at its lower end the screw 42, ,whichoperates in the screw box 36,.and at its upper end, the bevel gear 44: 1s a shaft 1ournaled 1n the bearings 45 wheel 43.

and extending forwardly and carrying at its aft end the bevel ear wheel 46 coacting with thebevelgear w eel 43-;and at its forward endifthe hand wheel 47. This completes the detaildescripti'on of the parts in this invention and'itinus't be understood that all theseflparts maybe constructed and arranged 1n various iflivays, though'in any of such arrangemehts,,,the propelling member must only have its effi- 'cient working parts submergedbn the boat gaining its speed.

,{Ihere are other forms of'hulls I this invention maybe applied, such .as somer 5 of themostextraordiiiaryhydro lanes in which in Fig 9 it will benotice that'the shaft extends outwardly from-the lift board '48- at speed in place of through the stern. Further; the movable. front and, rear planes may be used in some constructionsas illustrated inFig. 10 particularly for boats with only one propellin wheel, as the lanes can be set toguidet e boat-accordingly, but these are: only possible. modifications and generally speaking the construction will be as more particularly described herein, especially so. in the most of these speed boats. The application of this-means of propulsion to the more ractical navigation of'boats is not described herein, as itis. obvious that'it willbe adopted for such purpose and in -such manner as maybeflconsidered-advisable, 'so long as the featuresset forth in the claims for novelty are ,properlyadhered to.

- This description ints out particularly proximately two-thirds of each blade is sub merged, being the full extent-of the paddle "portions of said blades'and the blades, of

which three on each wheel are shown as being' the preferable number, in rotation reach beyond the ends of the stern wal that is to'say; beyond the sidewalls at the stern thereof gripping the-water where it is liable to be denser than it is directly -:tthe stern,

though as there s no screw act on, t l ere .is

that: the hubrf'the 's aft and the inefiicienti 1' .waterat. the speed level; therefore," it may 1 shaft, and a propeller mounted at the rear end of said shaft and during the period of speeding raising said hull and bearing and f dipping only the working: areas of its blades.

2. In boats and their propulsiom a jourf nal hearing formed in the stern portion of i the boat above the bottom thereof, a propellet shaft jonrnaled in said bearings and projecting therethrough above the speed ;1 Water line of the boat, a propeller having a plurality of blades projecting from a central hub fixedly mounted on the integral projecting end of said propeller shaft, each 3 of said blades in its downward position engaging the Water with its working area only below the lowest part of the hull and eX- I tending above the bottom, and means for driving said shaft. Y

In boats and their propulsion, a pair of internal combustion engines, a pair of propeller shafts substantially parallel and operatively connected With said engine; re-

spectively at their fore ends, a pair of screw propellers fixedly secured on the aft ends of? said propeller shafts and operated by said engines in opposite directions and a hull formed atthe stern to receive said propeller 5 shafts and support the same at a distance above the speed water level and the bottom of the boat, low enough to permitthe blades to project below the bottom, of the boat during rotation,

Signed at Pictoui in the Province of Nova Scotia, in the Dominion of Canada, this tenth day of January, 1911.

WILLIAM ALBERT HICKMAN.

Witnesses W. B. Ives, WARREN 0'. GRANT. 

